Black Sabbath Wiki
Welcome to the ! Be aware that this wiki is very new, and mis-information is all but inevitable. History Pre-Sabbath (1967 - August 1968): Tony Iommi made a local name for himself in the Rockin' Chevrolets before Black Sabbath. His time with said band was cut short however, due to an accident in which he severed the tips of two of his fingers. To bypass this, he created prosthetic fingertips from melted down Fairy Liquid bottles. After his leave from the Rockin' Chevrolets, he joined the Rest, with Sabbath drummer, Bill Ward, but the band broke up in late 1967. Iommi, Ward and singer Chris Smith went on to form the Carlisle-based blues band Mythology. Mythology lasted until July 1968, splitting up after the police raided the bands rehearsal flat, fining them for the possession of cannabis resin. Geezer Butler was a rhythm guitarist before Black Sabbath, playing for the Rare Breed. The band's singer left in the summer of 1968, and they found a new singer in Ozzy Osbourne, when they responded to a local advert. Osbourne had been involved with two band previously, but the Rare Breed before Osbourne played a gig with them. Early History (August 1968 - November 1968): Black Sabbath initially formed formed in August 1968 under the name the Pulka Tolk Blues Band, featuring Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne. Butler moved from rhythm guitar to bass guitar for the band, and initially the band also included a slide guitarist, Jimmy Phillips and a saxophonist, Alan "Acker" Clark, but both were quickly dismissed. The bands early live sets featured covers of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf songs. In September 1968, the band changed their name to Earth, which would stick for roughly a year. In November, Earth supported Jethro Tull, and Ian Anderson had invited Iommi to join the band. After consulting the rest of the members of Earth, Iommi joined Jethro Tull, "They told me I should go for it. We were just starting out at the time, and we hadn't got anything going", Iommi said on the split with Earth. After a few weeks, and an appearance on the Rolling Stone's TV special Rock and Roll Circus, Iommi returned to Earth, feeling that it wasn't working out. After the bands reformation, they split their time between Carlisle, where Mythology had enjoyed popularity, and Birmingham. They also approached jazz musician and entrepreneur Jim Simpson to become their manager. Simpson allowed Earth to play at his recently opened Henry's Blues House, and afterwards signed them. Throughout 1969, Earth visited Germany various times, playing at the Star Club in Hamburg. On the experience of playing at the Star Club, Geezer Butler said "We used to get these gigs in Germany, where we'd have to play eight or nine forty-five minute spots each day. And we only knew about ten songs, so we had to make them into forty-minute songs - which is where all the jamming came from, and where the first two albums came from..." Earth penned the jazzy "Song for Jim" to please manager Jim Simpson, and was recorded, but did not go anywhere. This led Simpson to approach keyboard player Norman Haines, supposedly being asked to join Earth. Haines declined, but offered the band a number of songs, which included "The Rebel" and "When I Come Down", the latter's title being changed to "When I Came Down". Around this time, another band, also called Earth emerged from Plymouth, releasing a single, which prompted Earth to look for a new name. In 1998, Ozzy Osbourne said on their name change "Tony said it was strange the way people pay money to see horror films and get scared, so we said 'Why don't we start to write scary music?'" This observation and revelation came from the band rehearsing across the road from a movie theater. While on the ferry to Germany in August 1969, Geezer Butler suggested the name Black Sabbath, after the Boris Karloff film of the same name from 1963. Bill Ward said "we got the name Black Sabbath from the song - the song came before the band name." On the 22nd of August, days after returning from Hamburg, Germany, Earth entered Trident Studios to record "The Rebel", featuring Norman Haines on piano and organ. The session was supervised by Gus Dudgeon, though his assistants name, Rodger Bain, appeared on the master tape, and co-owner of Trident, Barry Sheffield, is noted as an engineer. Nineteen takes of "The Rebel" were recorded. The following evening, the band appeared at a YMCA in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, which would be their final appearance under the name Earth. Simpson attempted to interest some record companies with "Song for Jim" and "The Rebel" but remained unsuccessful. Various other demos were recorded at this time, including the Haines song "When I Came Down", which was recorded at Ladbrooke Sound Studios. Sabbath returned to Trident to record a cover of the Crow song on the 10th of November. Bill Ward said on the recording of the cover "I didn't want to do the song, I din't like the song... We did it because we thought at the time, 'Well, I guess this is what you have to do to make a hit record'." Simpson convinced Tony Hall to fund Sabbath's first album, and the band was given two days to record the album, from the 17th to the 18th of November, this time at Regent Sound Studios. After recording and mixing the album, Sabbath returned to Hamburg for further shows at the Star Club. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970): On the 9th of January 1970, "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games with Me)" was released as a single, with "Wicked World" as the b-side. The self-titled album was release on Friday the 13th of February in the UK, and on the 1st of June in the US. Discography Black Sabbath (1970) Paranoid (1970) Category:Browse